There’s no denying the seat-of-the-pants feel under heavy acceleration; add in a supercharger to the equation and it’ll put an ear-to-ear grin on any enthusiast’s mug. And when it comes to supercharged packages, the concept is pretty straightforward. Depending on the supercharger of your choice, they can be mounted on brackets in front of the engine or mounted up top by taking the place of the intake manifold; both applications are belt driven off the crankshaft with standard serpentine belts.

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On the street, serpentine belts are the way to go. On the other hand, if you’re class racing in a heads-up series that requires the serpentine assembly, it isn’t uncommon to lose power due to belt slip. And if class rules allow it, cog belts are the way to go with big boosted combinations. Unlike the serpentine belt with its smooth surface area with v-grooves, the cog has ridges with matching pulleys for extra bite, making them much more aggressive. Can they be used on the street? Sure, but the belts can get a bit pricey should you lose a tooth or two and have to replace it.

For folks looking to maximize their combination without having to concern themselves with belt issues, a geardrive system is a must and the only way to go. The geardrive setup eliminates the belt entirely and instead is a direct bolt-on assembly that mounts the supercharger head unit directly onto the snout of the crankshaft. Offering up these trick units is Component Drive Systems, a new division of Chris Alston’s Chassisworks.

The mastermind behind their latest creation is Chris Alston Jr. who races his own Outlaw-classed ’64 Nova. The old adage “race on Sunday and sell on Monday” couldn’t be truer. Chris has already proven how well it works by eclipsing his own personal record with a 6.71 at 213 mph and taking the win on his first outing at this year’s WCHRA season opener. While that’s a testament on the more extreme side, CDS offers a number of geardrive systems for LS, small- and big-block powerplants, including a pretty spectacular dual geardrive assembly.

This month we wanted to introduce and highlight the CDS geardrive system, but be sure to keep an eye out in the upcoming months where we assemble a 525ci big-block and put this combination to the test with Vortech Engineering’s newest V-28 123 supercharger. No joke, combined with the CDS geardrive, it’s flat-out insane and absolutely the most powerful package we’ve ever put together.

Step By Step

There you have it, the latest in supercharging technology and everything shown here is available off-the-shelf with no modifications required whatsoever. The Vortech Engineering huffer shown here is the newest entry to their big power lineup, also dubbed the V-28 123. Be sure to keep up with us in the months to come, we’re putting this gear-driven supercharger combination to the test on a carbureted 525ci big-block. CHP

MORE PHOTOS

Built out of billet aluminum, CDS spared no expenses when it came to the details. This is the frontal view, where the supercharger mates onto the geardrive unit. The forward stands mount onto the supercharger itself and even has a sight glass (A) to keep tabs on fluid levels. Up top is the mounting hub (B) that connects onto the supercharger. Below that is the accessory drive output (C) for fuel pumps, vacuum pumps, and alternators.

Out back, the side that attaches onto the engine has an additional accessory drive and below that is the six-bolt crank hub that locks onto the crankshaft. Regardless of the supercharger or engine application, pricing starts at $2,900. Dual geardrive systems start at $4,000.

The front and rear hubs come complete with CDS’ proprietary line of bushings. Similar to any applications utilizing bushings, you can expect to swap them out periodically. The crankshaft side takes the brunt of the workload by handling most of the vibration absorption, while the supercharger side has double the life expectancy. There’s no set regime on replacement, even so, anytime you disassemble the geardrive, it’s recommended to check the bushings for any distortion. Should you need to replace any of them, they’re extremely affordable and price in at $24 per hub assembly.

To give you a better idea of fitment, here’s a closer look at the supercharger mounting hub. Once connected onto the supercharger with its bushings in place, the hub simply slides onto the geardrive unit.

Up top, the bronze filter also acts as a cap and requires 4 ounces of high-quality full synthetic 75W-90 gear oil.

Each geardrive also comes with an integral timing pointer. These mount behind the geardrive and in front of the engine block.

Another trick feature is the crank trigger mount, giving you the option to use a damper with a crank trigger shell.

Looking down on the assembled unit, another advantage is the ability to change gear ratios to under-drive or over-drive superchargers with basic hand tools. Additional gear sets are priced at just $250, enabling you to vary blower rpm for maximum performance at the dragstrip, to bring on the power earlier in the rpm range, or to reduce the power for more street-oriented performance rides.

As noted earlier, CDS will have additional accessories available, including this belt-driven fuel pump. You can also expect to see a vacuum pump and alternator drive assembly in the near future.

When it comes to the fuel pump drive, you have the choice of ordering the unit with or without the pump and also have a variety of pumps to select from. Our choice was Aeromotive’s billet hex drive fuel pump (PN 11107).

Any 3/8-inch hex drive fuel pump will work with the CDS accessory drive; in our case, Aeromotive also supplies the billet mounting collar and necessary hardware. Don’t let its petite size fool you; this little gem can feed everything from mild to the most potent combinations.

The fuel pump accessory drive offers an infinite amount of adjustability based on your particular combination and needs. Foremost, you can mount the accessory on either side of the geardrive and the fuel pump also rotates to accommodate the fuel lines. Once installed, the geardrive output shaft turns the belt, which then rotates the hex drive pump and supplies the fuel.

There you have it, the latest in supercharging technology and everything shown here is available off-the-shelf with no modifications required whatsoever. The Vortech Engineering huffer shown here is the newest entry to their big power lineup, also dubbed the V-28 123. Be sure to keep up with us in the months to come, we’re putting this gear-driven supercharger combination to the test on a carbureted 525ci big-block. CHP